


Hey Brother

by Kestrealbird



Series: Dysfunctional Family [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Awkward Friendship, Brotherly feels, Fluff, Multi, Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro, WarFalcon pining, affectionate Loki, background Pepper x Tony, mentioned Steve x Bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 08:22:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14712543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kestrealbird/pseuds/Kestrealbird
Summary: He leaves just as quickly as he entered and Steve turns to Thor with an amused sort of smile. “So,” he says, “is that something else I’m going to have to get used to?”Thor smiles. “Up to him, really.”“Fair enough.”





	Hey Brother

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be much longer but I just couldn't hash out anymore words than this so I'm posting it as is. I'm still happy with how it turned out and I hope you enjoy this Affectionate Loki fic

**1**

It’s not that it surprises him, really, it’s just that Steve isn’t really prepared to just  _ see it _ happen right in front of him. He knows that Thor and Loki share a room - sometimes a bed if the nights are particularly rough on them - and he’s seen how they subconsciously lean into each other’s space when they talk, sharing one breath between themselves. 

It’s so easy to simply accept them as they are that he almost forgets when Loki wasn’t a constant by Thor’s side. They exist as though they’re extensions of each other, two souls intertwined in a way that not even death can sever. It’s a lot like him and Bucky just, well, without the romance and with a lot more relation. They still fight and argue but Bruce and Valkyrie assure him that this is  _ normal _ and the other Asgardians roll their eyes at best and hide their drinks with a scowl at worst. 

So he doesn't think too much on it, not really. Everyone simply accepts this as a new part of their lives and there’s an unspoken knowledge that the brothers don't show physical affection unless they’re alone and private. Tony’s a little bit like that too. 

He’s sitting in the lounge when it happens - when he sees it happen for himself. The tower is...it feels like coming home and he never realized how much he missed this place until he came  _ back _ to it and everything just sort of. Falls back into place. With a few tweaks and add-ons like Peter and Bucky and, well, it’s a compound now isn't it? Tony is still Tony - he never fucking sleeps when he’s supposed to and he has snacks every five minutes that seemingly appear from nowhere and not even Wanda can find where he hides them all. 

Clint’s back, too, and the lack of coffee is Steve’s first clue to the fact because Clint is a heathen who drinks it straight from the goddamn pot instead of using a mug like normal people. His second clue is the relaxed posture that Natasha has about her and the way she smiles when she passes some of the vents. 

The only annoying thing about all of this is Sam and Rhodey’s constant pining but Steve supposes he has no right to judge them given how many decades it took before he and Bucky got together (“finally,” Sam says, despite only knowing them for a couple of years at best.)

He crosses his legs, head tilted back against the cushions, sighs and wonders if Bruce is up for a game of billiards. He’s given up playing darts with Clint. It’s a loss the moment you try and he has enough dignity to know when to quit, despite what Bucky might say otherwise. Sam and Shuri are still trying. Best of luck to them, he thinks. Clint’s starbucks orders are a fucking nightmare to remember but at least they aren’t the monstrosities that Okoye drinks. 

He shudders just thinking about them.

He gives a half-hearted sort of wave when Thor walks in, yawning and wearing his eyepatch (and wow that’s still something he’s getting use to seeing) and he gives Steve a small nod in return. Thor turns and says good morning to the birds sitting outside the window, waving when they fly off to wherever they feel like going and Steve smiles despite himself.

“You don't have to do that you know. I don't think they can understand you.”

Thor hums. “Perhaps they don't. It’s still polite though.”

Sometimes Steve forgets that there are people out there who legitimately  _ don't  _ like Thor and he really can't see why that is. Thor and Peter are just the kind of people who can make friends with almost anyone, and they’re the softest people he’s ever met. Maybe that’s why Loki’s “evil phase” didn’t last very long.

Loki doesn't so much walk into the room as vaguely saunter through the door and Steve is about to say hello when the words stick in his throat and his mouth forms a small ‘o’ at what he sees. Thor doesn't seem to mind that Loki is clinging to him from behind and trying to steal his breakfast but it’s - it’s the most affectionate that Steve has ever seen them and he’s a little miffed by it but then Loki is turning to awkwardly greet him a good morning and Steve is too polite to forget his manners so. Well. 

He leaves just as quickly as he entered and Steve turns to Thor with an amused sort of smile. “So,” he says, “is that something else I’m going to have to get used to?”

Thor smiles. “Up to him, really.”

“Fair enough.” He grins, lazily, and asks, “up for a game of billiards?”

He isn’t surprised that it happened. He’s surprised that Loki is the one who did it.

**2**

“For the last time Tony I  _ don't _ have a crush on Sam.”

Tony shoves his hands into his pockets with a grin and says, “sure, Rhodey, because it’s completely normal to say that a guy you have absolute no romantic interest in has the voice of an angel-”

“-well he does-!”

“-and eyes that shine like stars.” He bats his lashes for extra effect, laughing at the scowl Rhodey gives him in return. Pepper playfully shoves Rhodey’s shoulder and does nothing to stop Tony’s teasing.

“Just ask him out on a date already,” she tells him.

Rhodey huff's. “Oh sure that’d go well. Just go right up to him and say ‘hey Sam my friends think I have a huge crush on you because you’re absolutely gorgeous and I love hearing you talk so let’s go on a date!’”

Tony’s grin widens and Pepper makes an impatient gesture with her hand. Rhodey stops dead in his tracks, his words catching up to him, and he sinks to the floor with a whine. “Oh my god I have a crush on Sam.”

Pepper pats him on the shoulder with mock sympathy and Tony tells FRIDAY to mark this day down in his calendar from now on because he’s a dick like that. Rhodey wouldn’t change his friends for the world, despite his grievances, and they know it. It’s partly the reason why they tease each other like this and manage to get away with it.

“Come on-” Tony hoists him up to his feet and skips excitedly down the halls- “I have to show you the new bike I’m working on for Clint.”

“The Sky-Cycle thing?”

“Yep! Complete with morse-code vibrations in case he loses his hearing aids.”

“You think he’d be more careful about that sort of thing,” Pepper muses, tying her hair back as they stand in the elevator so it doesn't keep whipping in her face when she walks. She’s dressed down for the day yet still manages to look the most menacing of the three of them, even in her pink tracksuit and ratty old hoodie that she keeps “forgetting” to throw away no matter how many times they remind her.

Pepper and Tony are going to be a beautiful goddamn mess when they finally have this wedding and Rhodey can't wait to sob in the seats like a goddamn baby. He’s pretty sure that Happy’s already brought himself 6 boxes of tissues for the occasion. 

The doors ding open and Rhodey makes a beeline for the back room, because that’s the only place that Tony puts his new vehicle projects, but he stops halfway there, shocked to see that the hangar isn’t as empty as it first appeared.

Thor opens his eye and raises a finger to his lips, the movement making Loki snuffle in his sleep and cling tighter to Thor’s side where they’re laying on the floor. Tony quirks a brow and gestures to the arm that’s currently being used as a pillow. Thor tries to move it, Loki won't let him, so he shrugs in a helpless sort of way. 

Pepper’s voice is soft when she speaks, almost motherly. “We’ll keep quiet and try not to wake him.”

Thor closes his eye again, content with that response, and Rhodey, knowing full well how cold this hangar can get this late at night, grabs a blanket that he keeps in one of the cupboards and carefully throws it over them.

Tony locks the backroom door behind them and cheekily shows off the pictures he had FRIDAY take when no-one was paying attention, but he says nothing more about it.

“Sky-Cycle is still a ridiculous name,” Pepper tells them once Tony has shown off everything he can about this bike without causing a ruckus. 

Tony sighs. “Take it up with Clint. It’s his bike not mine.”

“So what would you call it then?” Rhodey crosses his arms with a smirk. Pepper takes one look at the expression on Tony’s face and bluntly cuts in, “no. Not doing that.”

**3**

The compound is quiet when Bruce walks in. The dim lights offer enough visibility for him to find his way through the halls without disturbing anyone’s sleep and he makes a beeline for the pull out sofa-bed in the lounge, too tired to make the long trek to his actual room.

Acting as the go-between for the Asgardians and the Government is tiring on the best of days, but today had really set out to test his patience. Thor had left an hour before he had, his head pounding and his eyes beginning to dull with sleep deprivation, so Bruce had been left to try and cull Valkyrie’s fury when Senator Wattick made an underhanded slight against her Kings. 

Nobody dared say it outloud, of course, because they weren’t sure how Loki would react to that, but Asgard had two Kings and Bruce couldn't help but wonder why there’d ever been a need for Odin to pick Thor as his heir when it was clear that the brothers had always been meant to rule together. If one of them was busy then the other would step in to fill the role, and if they were both away then Valkyrie and Korg - sometimes himself, if he was asked - would step in temporarily until one of them returned. 

Loki wasn’t good with people the way Thor was but his mind was like no other, and his diplomacy was truly something to be awed. Thor, in the meanwhile, held an impartial judgement and a welcoming comfort that Loki somewhat lacked. They were two sides of a coin, completing each other in a way that no-one else could, and Bruce was relieved to see them rekindling a brotherhood once strained. 

So, yeah, culling Valkyrie’s fury had been an ordeal he’d rather not repeat and he was sorely looking forward to getting some decent sleep for what felt like the first time in….weeks maybe.

He’s broken out of his tired thoughts when he nearly trips over something on the floor, cursing quietly and stumbling to regain his footing. He looks down to see two familiar capes bunched together on the floor, acting as a makeshift bed for Stormbreaker. He looks over at the pullout bed, a smile lifting the corners of his mouth when he sees Thor and Loki curled up together, and in this darkness it’s hard to tell whose limbs belong to who. 

Thor’s head is nestled under Loki’s chin, his body completely lax and unguarded, the trust he has in his brother’s protection glaringly obvious to anyone who’ll see them like this. Bruce contemplates simply leaving the room and hiding out in Tony’s lab. He’s done it before so he’s certain that Tony won't be all that surprised if he does it again and Thor really does need the rest…

His thoughts don't get very far before Loki opens his eyes and silently makes room between himself and Thor on the bed, giving Bruce an expectant look that silently urges him to just join them already and get it over with. He’d like to say that the invitation is surprising but unbeknownst to almost everyone Loki has turned affectionate with him and - and it’s not to the same degree as his affection with Thor, because he’s a little more awkward with Bruce, but it’s something to let him know that Loki is  _ reasonably _ comfortable in his presence.

He must be taking too long because Loki rolls his eyes after a time and simply drags him down by his arm with lightning speed, not a single word passing through his lips as he kicks Thor into a more comfortable position for all three of them. Bruce is tired and drained and already half-asleep and curled up as tight as he can get between them by the time Loki is satisfied, so he almost misses the hint of hesitation before Loki’s arm finds itself slung over him so he can intertwine his hand with Thor’s own. There’s still a small amount of space between them - a gentle reminder that they’re not  _ quite _ there yet on the friendship scale - but it’s comforting and warm all the same.

It’s easily one of the best sleeps he’s had in a while and when he wakes up to see a pouting Clint, well, he allows himself to be just a little bit smug about it all. 

**4**

The first thing that Loki does when he wakes up to an empty room isn't  _ panicking _ , exactly, it’s just mildly concerned dithering because Thor isn’t using his prosthetic eye today which means he’s probably going to walk into every other door frame and smack Bucky in the face again. He isn’t panicking he’s just - he’s just worried about his brother’s image that's all. 

He certainly isn’t thinking about Thanos and the Reality Stone and all the horrid things it could make you see and believe before ripping apart the illusion and leaving you cold and empty and -

He scrambles to put on his clothing, momentarily forgetting that he can just use magic to do so, and darts out the door, skidding around the corners of the compound in a frenzied hurry, ignoring the concerned looks he gets from Sam and Vision when he almost knocks them over on his way down the stairs.

Thor wouldn’t leave him. Not now, not after everything they’ve been through but he wasn’t there when Loki woke up and what if -

He stops when he hears familiar humming from the gardens and looks over the railings with wide eyes and panting breaths, hair in disarray and hands clenched so tightly on the metal it’s starting to bend but Thor is  _ there _ , walking around the garden with his hands in his pockets and lightning sparking up his arms.

He lost his eye to their - their sister and almost lost his life to Thanos - has lost so much more than he ever should’ve yet here he is, humming and smiling and steeling himself for another day, continuing on because it’s all he can do.

Loki’s face is wet with tears before he knows it, a sob nearly wrenching itself from his throat and he wonders if this is how Thor felt all those time when he believed Loki to be dead only to find him alive and whole and  _ here _ . 

He vaults himself off the balcony without a thought, landing on his brother’s back with such force that he nearly sends them both toppling over if not for Thor’s fast reflexes, and he clings to his brother as tightly as he can, head buried in Thor’s neck and shaking breaths rattling his bones. 

Thor says nothing. He places his arms underneath his brother and hoists him into a better position and continues walking, a quiet lullaby from their youth thrumming through his throat and into the air around them. It isn’t the first time that Loki has frantically clung to him like this and he doubts it will be the last. 

“Unnskyld,” Loki whispers, over and over though he has no idea what, exactly, he’s apologizing for. 

“Jeg vet,” Thor replies, voice quiet and soothing. 

He keeps walking and humming and says nothing when Loki falls limp around his shoulders, tired but not sleeping. The sun shines brightly in the sky, a distant warmth culling the storm left over in Loki’s body and, finally, he lifts his head and straightens his back, but he lets Thor continue to carry him all the same, just like when they were younger and trying to reach their mother’s height on each other’s shoulders. 

He isn’t healed, none of them are, but he feels safe and content for the first time in a long while and right now? 

Right now it’s all that matters.

**Author's Note:**

> The Norwegian phrases are literally "I'm sorry" and "I know". I looked them both up so I hope they're accurate but if not feel free to correct me because I know some sites aren't all that reliable lol
> 
> I honestly had no idea what to call this fic so I just went with 'Hey Brother' because it's a really good song and always makes me think of Thor and Loki


End file.
